Paper 2016/1007
A survey of attacks on Ethereum smart contracts
Nicola Atzei, Massimo Bartoletti, and Tiziana Cimoli
Abstract
Smart contracts are computer programs that can be correctly executed by a network of mutually distrusting nodes, without the need of an external trusted authority. Since smart contracts handle and transfer assets of considerable value, besides their correct execution it is also crucial that their implementation is secure against attacks which aim at stealing or tampering the assets. We study this problem in Ethereum, the most well-known and used framework for smart contracts so far. We analyse the security vulnerabilities of Ethereum smart contracts, providing a taxonomy of common programming pitfalls which may lead to vulnerabilities. We show a series of attacks which exploit these vulnerabilities, allowing an adversary to steal money or cause other damage.
Note: Updated attacks to version 0.4.2 of the Solidity compiler.
Metadata
- Available format(s)
-
PDF
- Category
- Applications
- Publication info
- Preprint. MINOR revision.
- Keywords
- smart contractsblockchaincryptocurrencies
- Contact author(s)
- bart @ unica it
- History
- 2016-12-14: revised
- 2016-10-26: received
- See all versions
- Short URL
- https://ia.cr/2016/1007
- License
-
CC BY
BibTeX
@misc{cryptoeprint:2016/1007,
author = {Nicola Atzei and Massimo Bartoletti and Tiziana Cimoli},
title = {A survey of attacks on Ethereum smart contracts},
howpublished = {Cryptology {ePrint} Archive, Paper 2016/1007},
year = {2016},
url = {https://eprint.iacr.org/2016/1007}
}
